Friday 31 May 2013

Holiday Greetings

Christmas is coming!! LOL - it is inevitable that I never get enough chrissy cards done - and now I have an opportunity to put a little display in a shop I reckon I am gonna have to get a lot more done than ever before...
Materials used: Navy & white cardstock & bling from stash, Cuttlebug snowflake ef, Stampin Up sentiment stamp, Versamark navy ink, clear ep, Memory box buckle die, Spellbinders nesting rectangle die, and surprise surprise - Twinkling H20's in iridescent blue & blue flame...



I am joining everyone over at the Snippets Playground hosted by Pixie's Crafty Workshop 'cos I used snippets for my "snowflake" and label - its so much fun - why don't you join us??



I am also entering into Rudolph Day for the very first time over at Sarn's Stamping for Pleasure - thanks Sarn...

And I am also finally linking up with Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge - use some white... and
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Extra - Anything Goes...

Thanks for stopping by... Mxx

Wednesday 29 May 2013

WOYWW #208 - Happy 4th Birthday!!

Yay - am so pleased to be a participant - and am gonna try really hard to visit everyone - 130  links so far...
Congratulations Julia and everyone!!

 Just a quick pic of my desk:
A few odds & sods left over from cards made - another pirate started, borrowed stamps out to use...
the sports logos still waiting - a local govt brochure waiting to be binned / read and 1 of 11 zombie books someone let me borrow on Monday - I have read 2 and a bit so far - no wonder I am feeling just a bit tired!! All that shuffling, and chomping...

I am off to start cruising around the creative desks of the world on this fine evening - if you want to join in hop over to The Stamping Ground where Julia and the bunch are celebrating this fabulous blog...

EDIT: I made it to 82 desks - whew - would love to visit more but time just slips away!!

Thanks for stopping by... Mxx

Sunday 26 May 2013

Funky Floral Birthday

Using up some of the stuff on my work desk for the last week I seem to be finding my mojo just as it nears bedtime ho hum...

Using glimmer cardstock I have had for years and  Stampin Up flowers in stazon stamped on semi gloss that was a wraparound other papers... Stampin Up edgelet die... the dark stripe down the middle is actually a snippet of adhesive backed dark green velvet - gee my stash is amazing lol - I really should have a closer look sometime...  Twinkling H20's used to colour the blossoms and spellbinders oval die - this white glimmer paper was from a deconstructed wedding invite - stickers from stash...

This is my 2nd entry into the Snippets Playground over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop... I might have to slow down a bit as there are only 3 entries allowed... LOL


Thanks for stopping by... Mxx

Purple Birthday Wishes

Another purple birthday card - but I am using up some snippets...
The card  is a medium purple colour with a lighter shade of purple in a shimmer paper...
it looks grey on grey on my screen!!

Materials used: Stampin up Beautiful Wings die, Framelets label collection die, Elegant lines ef, Birthday Wishes stamp, cardstock paper & bling from stash, versacube violet ink & clear ep.

I am linking this creation up with the following challenges:
Pixies Crafty Workshop has some amazing prizes this week in the Snippets Playground - so this will be my first of 3 entries...

Sister Act Card Challenge - sharing creativity

Thanks for stopping by... Mxx

PS: I have noticed on my jaunts around the blogosphere that there are a number of Anonymous comments being posted usually saying they like the website design - they end with "feel free to visit my page" or some such - I may be wrong but I would advise that no-one click on their links 'cos it looks very suspicious to me xx

Saturday 25 May 2013

Birthday Ahoy!!!

Caught up with that pesky pirate floating around my workspace today - finally decided what colours to use...

Red, blue & black of course... again doesn't photograph well when I use black ink to stamp & clear ep - maybe I should use ultrafine ep

Materials used: Tombows, Stampin up ships, borrowed pirate stamp, Tsukineko tuxedo black ink pad, clear ep, gold kindyglitz, Stampin up Pacific Point cardstock, blue A4 paper, stickers from stash

I am linking up to the following challenges with this creation:
The Rubber Buggy Challenge - Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps and More - Anything Goes


Thanks for stopping by... Mxx

Purrfect Birthday

I don't own any people or animal stamps so when I had the opportunity to borrow some stash I found this stamp - it would have been perfect to use for the Cat/Dog challenge over at Less is More but I missed the deadline!!

Oh well am happy with how it turned out...

Materials used: Stampin Up vanilla cardstock, brown from stash, vanilla & brown versacube inks, clear ep, unknown brand clear cat stamp, Stampin Up birthday sentiment, gold pen & brown tombow pen, spellbinders classic oval die...
 
Am entering the following challenges with this creation:
Addicted to CAS - the code word is birthday
Make it Monday - sharing creations
Simon Says Stamp & Show - favourite Ink - my versamark versacubes - so cheap and an absolute rainbow of colours - easy to carry around, easy to use on large stamps & small and rub on edges - I just cant go past them for versatility...
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx

Friday 24 May 2013

Flower Friends

Finally reworked the single layer card I wasn't happy with - but its not single layer anymore LOL...

A few more roses stamped in the background, coloured a white rose stuck over the previous one and restamped the sentiment in green on an oval... I feel way better now!

Materials Used: Stampin Up Manhattan Flowers, versamark ink cubes in camellia, opera pink & green, Twinkling H20's, Scotts foam tape squares, card stock from stash...

I am entering into the snippets playground over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop as I used snippets for the stuck on rose & oval...
And over at Addicted to Stamps & More its Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by... Mxx



WOYWW #207 - Friday cheat

Feel like I am cheating a bit - its actually Friday here - but I was wiped out by a migraine from Tuesday night thru to this morning - had to force myself to work - not a good look...

So I completely missed Wednesday - I did log in and browse a couple of entries but couldnt focus enough to comment so will catch up when I finish this...

Only managed 4 creations since last WOYWW so my desk/coffee table hasnt changed much... Petey the Pirate is still swanning around... that single layer flower card too - I know what I want to do - maybe this weekend I'll do it... lol- my flowers are still there and I received a baby shower invite - very cute - the creator was inspired to make her own after rifling through the cards I have for sale at work - I can already see deconstruction coming - but have to wait til end of June... oh and I am gonna re-watch Star Trek before I head off Into Darkness for the next installment...
Lastly I printed out some Hawthorn Hawks footy logos - I make sport based birthday cards to order - just using the team logo and some dies & stickers... very popular - but not mass produced.

Thats it for this week... hope you all have a fabulous 4th year anniversary - I'll be keeping an eye out on the sidelines... If you want to take a peek at creative desks around the world just hop on over to The Stamping Ground where Julia has all the details...

Thanks for stopping by... Mxx [#169]

Sunday 19 May 2013

Happy Birthday

A straight Happy Birthday this time using the little flowers I stamped earlier in the week and a couple of dies I hadnt tried out...
Materials used: Fancy That Dragon Fly, EZ cut Happy Birthday dies, Stampin Up lil blossoms stamp, Twinkling H20's, cardstock & bling from stash

I am entering this creation into the following challenges:
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Flower Power
CASology - Bloom
Addicted to CAS - Birthday

Thanks for stopping by... Mxx

Cottage Life

Finally put my old cottage stamp into action - and discovered my stazon ink pad desperately needs re-inked and my Tuxedo Black memories stamp pad is really black... LOL

As I was planning to use Twinkling H20's I used my stazon ink pad and found it looked very light - so I then used my memories tuxedo black with ultrfine clear ep... so one was suitable to colour the other wasnt... I mounted them both exactly the same and used the same sentiment stamp... I think I prefer the coloured version despite my inspiration being a Black & White image over at Lavinia Stamps.  
 
Materials used: Tsukineko Tuxedo black memories ink, Stazon black ink, Twinkling H20's, snippets of green & white cardstock, Green versamark ink & Papertrey Ink sentiment stamp, double sided foam tape.
 
I am linking up to 
 
Our Creative Corner - share your creations
Shelly's Images - Anything Goes
 
 
 
 
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx
 
 

Cherish Tree

I was very excited to win an Arboscello Tree die for entering into the Snippets Playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop... such a treat to win something for doing what you love... and meeting such creative and generous people...

My prize die and a lovely gift card made by Di at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Well it finally arrived at my work and all day I dreamt and puzzled over what I would create with it - when I finally unwrapped it at home I had an extra little surprise...
This was my very first "contact" with one of my blogging friends and I will use it to remind me that its really a small world if we are just brave enough to reach out to each other... what a lovely card to include ... and the die itself - wrapped in bright pink tissue for protection in its long journey from the UK to Australia... and what do you know - now I knew exactly what I was going to create!!


So taking the deconstructed engagment card that I showed you in WOYWW #206, the die and the pink tissue this is what I came up with:
I hope you all cherish the contacts you make and the friendships this wonderul craft we indulge in creates...
 
Materials used: Arboscello Tree die from Memory Box, tissue from Di, Duo labels die from ThePapercrafthub, Stampin Up sentiment stamp , stazon ink, ribbon & cardstock from stash.
 
I am entering this creation into the following challenges:
The Snippets Playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop definately gets a look at this one LOL...
Make It Monday where we post just to share our creations
Our Creative Corner - again just sharing
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx

Wednesday 15 May 2013

WOYWW #206

Yeehar - Happy Happy Happy WOYWW - well maybe - I was #56 last week and if I am real quick I will be #55 this week.... LOL drop on by Julia's Blog at the Stamping Ground to join in a trip around crafting desks all over the world...

Here goes:

Dang it - while uploading I refreshed my browser and missed out - now up to #58 - but hang on I want to put up some more shots....

 That ditzy Pirate is still floating around wrangling for attention - I had such a clear idea of what I was going to do too - but other things just took over... Refresh browser #60 - come on photos - load quicker... LOL
I saw a beautiful black & white image over at Lavinia Stamps that blew me away so I went and dug out this little cottage I have had for years - planning to hopefully use it before next week...
Refresh browser - #61...
Mmmm purple - used some card for my dreamcatcher during the week and this was left over the flowers from a green floral card but didnt use them - and the pink card single layer entered into a challenge but I aint happy with it - so it will sit til I work out what's missing... Refresh browser #62...
Love love love deconstructing cards I have received - except the special ones... this was an engagement invite - you know those bulk ones that get sent to everyone - deconstruct & re-use re-cycle... Refresh browser #63... nearly there...
 
Stamped onto semi-gloss card that came wrapped up with fancy paper the little flowers should eventually make at least 2 cards in the coming week.... Refresh browser #65...
OK I am ready - I wonder what # I will end up with ????????????????
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx

Sunday 12 May 2013

If Friends Were Flowers Single Layer...

I love the saying "If friends were flowers I'd pick you..."

It means you can create so many beautiful flowery cards and give someone that warm fuzzy feeling we all deserve.

Less is More have a single layer challenge using coloured base card this time around so I created the following entry:


I also made one in greens - but used white card :

Materials used: Stampin Up Fifth Avenue Floral stamps, versamark inks then coloured the flowers  Twinkling H20's and finally The Creative Stamp sentiment - cardstock from stash.

Thanks for stopping by... Mxx


Purple Dreamcatcher

Well this one was unusual - having never made a dreamcatcher ever I looked up an online site and there were so many variations I thought it looks like whatever you want to create works...
 

I started out with a pale blue card for the background and had been asked for a purple Dreamcatcher so cut a circle of purple card which I then embossed to give it some texture and out came my stash of embroidery floss. I split the 6 stranded floss into 3 and inserted the brads in the circle then started weaving... leaving 3 strands hanging I raided my beads and then raided my stash of snippets to find my feathers and voila!!    Luckily I also had a borrowed sentiment that had the word dreams in it so stamped using violet ink and clear ep. Then the background didnt look interesting enough so I swiped it first with white, then pale blue, green and lastly purple inks using a ink tool. I attached the dreamcatcher with a purple star brad and then found I had to stick bits down with glue to stop everything swinging around so much. I hope the recipient of the card likes it as much as I enjoyed making it. There are a few things I would do differently next time  but not bad for a first go...
 
I am linking this creation up to Our Creative Corner for sharing creations - Anything Goes
 
Materials used: Quickutz nesting circle die, SU ef, brads, feathers, card from stash, SU sentiments stamps, versamark & versamagic inks.
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx
 

 
 

Japanese Birthday

Was asked for a birthday card using my Japanese paper so I couldnt go past tried and tested colours - so here it is:
Didnt photo as well as the Japanese Wishes card but the paper is still lovely.

Materials used: Cardstock, paper & sticker from stash, Stampin Up & Memory Box butterfly dies, Sizzix swirl ef.

I am entering into the Flutter By Wednesday's challenge with this creation - you only need to have a fairy or butterfly on your creation to enter
I am also linking up to Make It Monday - a place just for sharing your creations and checking out everyone else's

Thanks for stopping by... Mxx

Wednesday 8 May 2013

Dragonfly in Flight

Hi - welcome to my blog - all things flighty... butterflies, Dragonflies, Birds - I enjoy using them all in my creations.
I am truly inspired by my sister at CathysCardSpot - she is the butterfly Queen for me... using butterflies and dragonflies in her elegant and CAS creations.
I am also inspired by the number of people using vellum lately or pergamano[?] cards.

 
Take a dark purple base card, cover with vellum sprinkled with silver Dragobflies. Hold that vellum in place with a dragonfly brad in each corner. Stamp white card with the main dragonfly using stazon and glitter embossing pdr,[if you look closely you will see the dragonfly is made up of 3 birds together] then colour with heavenly & sweet thistle H20's. Punch vellum flowers & using a Marianne design die cut 1 stem - colour with guatemalan & playful peony H20's, stick clear crystal bling on the flower centres andon the main dragonfly. Finally use a silver sticker sentiment ...
 
I am entering into the following challenges with this creation:
Crafting with Dragonflies has their very 1st challenge where dragonfly must be the main feature
Simon Says Stamp & Show has an Inspired challenge - mention who or what inspired your creation
Simon Says Stamp has a Things with Wings challenge this week
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx
 
 


WOYWW #205 - another week already

Hi Everyone... its 4.20PM on Wednesday 08/05 here and believe it or not I was champing at the bit to have my 2nd turn at WOYWW - not because my desk is all that busy - but because I have met so many wonderful and creative people around the blogosphere... and am getting so much inspiration and creative energy from everyone - so a big THANKYOU to you!!

Here is my workspace at the moment:
 
 
The purple Papercraft bag is now where all my "snippets" and scraps live - if you were around a few days ago you will know that a lot of my pristine cardstock got a brisk wash with a glass of coke - my daughter was very sorry - so now I have a huge stash of not quite good enough for a whole card supply - it will all be put to good use... eventually - of course Di is quite happy for me to frequent the Snippets Playground at Pixies Crafty Workshop for as long as I want - whew - there is always a bright side... :)


I am working on the card in the background for a new blog named "Crafting with Dragonflies" - its their 1st ever challenge so call back later and I will focus on that creation...

I also have some stuff out for a Pirate card - borrowed some of a friends stash while she moves house - I am so lucky - stamped and embossed the pirate and now am stuck thinking what colours / colouring method to use... lol - he may stay there for quite a while... hope he makes himself comfy!

And another coffee.. mmm coffeeeee  - CYA all later!! Mxx

Monday 6 May 2013

Purple Birthday Wishes

Sarn over at Stamping for Pleasure did it again... zapped my brain with inspiration around her Pink Daisies card posted on 03/05/2013. Sarn used vellum on the bottom half of her card and my brain went ping... LOL I just had to get a couple of things done and then the card came together:
Materials used: Cardstock, rose printed vellum, and silver paper from my stash - and those ribbons are actually the ones that come in your clothes to hold them on the hangers... Versa mark violet ink, SU Birthday wishes, ek success edger punch & Spellbinders Petite Scallopped Ovals.
 
I am entering two new challenges for me this week:
Annabelle Stamps - Anything Goes
Oldbackporch also has Anything Goes
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx



Mum with a difference

Mmm Coloured up this Mum image and then couldnt find just the right background for it - so went for my old stand by BLACK... lol

Well it may be a bit unusual to have a black mothers day card but I have always been a black sheep... LOL - the colours look a bit washed out in the photo too... My butterfly was stamped on a snippet of vellum and is actually coloured with Twinkling H20's - my photography didnt pick it up and this is attempt #12 to capture it so I gave up
 
Materials Used: Mum stamp [borrowes from sister - cant remember the brand !?!], Kaisercraft Mini clear stamps butterfly, Tombows, Twinkling H20's on butterfly and sparkle black embossing pdr.
 
I am hopping over to the slippery dip at the Snippets Playground in Pixies Crafty Workshop with this one
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx

Sunday 5 May 2013

Fabulous Birthday

My 2nd entry into the Addicted to Stamps & More Colour Challenge: Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie & Melon Mambo are the specified colours:
Materials used: Stampin Up Pacific Point ink & card stock, SU Pumpkin Pie ink, Versa mark Camelia ink, borrowed Hero Arts Fabulous Birthday stamp, Spellbinders Classic Ovals, Twinkling H20's Heaven on oval, stazon black ink, Clearstamps Floral Flurries stamps, stickers & white card from stash.
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx

Holly Night

Spent the afternoon at a friends house raiding her stash - her house is on the market so my borrowed items have a home til she finds new digs... yippee for me...
So one of my borrowed items is a Universal ef called Holly Night...
Painted with Twinkling H20's cardstock & sticker from stash...
 
I am entering the following challenge with this card:
 
Crimbo Crackers - Anything  Goes as long as it is Christmas or Festive...
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx
 
 
 


Heart Rainbow

I have a very small stash of Iron-on embroidery thingies... when I saw that Addicted to CAS has Rainbow as their cue word I went straight for this Rainbow Heart... its way brighter IRL.


I also dragged out a PaperTreyInk sentiment that I hadn't used before - the cardstock is from my stash.
 
I am entering the following challenge with this card
Addicted to CAS - Rainbow challenge
Simon Says Stamp - Happy Mail challenge
Challenges for Everybody - Anything Goes
 
Thanks for stopping by...Mxx

Saturday 4 May 2013

Thinking of You

Had a sheet of Pacific Point cardstock out contemplating another challenge entry when I remembered I was asked to create a "Thinking of You - Best Wishes" card for a colleague who has been away for 6 mths and it looks like he wont be joining us again any time soon... [heart problems].
We all know how hard male cards are at the best of times - but this one had me stumped. I had already done one a few months ago for him using Japanese papers... then I thought just put the words in place and go from there - so out came the stickers - then added a simple stamp using Pacific Point ink so it looks like a watermark... it is amazing what a difference a stamp makes...
 I am entering my stamped creation in to the challenge over at CASology where the code word is CARE...
also over at
Simon Says Stamp the theme is Happy Mail -
show someone you care...

Thanks for stopping by... Mxx



1 pretty piece of paper...

Not consciously but it appears to be the norm nowadays - creating more than one card at a time!!
Two of these were in my first WOYWW - not quite finished and the 3rd was just waiting to be put together...
 

Made the decision that the two I thought needed more work - didn't - my daughter loves the cut out card and the other really really simple card was just too pretty to cover up... so all I had left to do was use the bauble on a card...

Materials used: Swirly red handmade paper had in my stash for years, Stampin Up Ornament punch, Cheery Lynn Designs Holly Flourish die, Memory Box bow die, card stock & stickers from stash.

I am entering the bauble card that I did today into the
Crimbo Crackers Challenge #40 - Anything Goes as long as its Christmas or Festive related...

Thanks for stopping by... Mxx



Pacific Pumpkin Mambo

Addicted to Stamps & More have an Addicted to Colour Challenge using SU Pacific Point, Melon Mambo & Pumpkin Patch or colours from your stash to match. This called for stretching a few creative muscles..

I started off by checking my snippets and found a orangey coloured offcut where I had die cut a rectangle out of and I punched the edge and then trimmed it up to fit C6... it was perfect and I had a pinky coloured pre embossed piece of card [pre-embossed is where you borrow someone else's ef and make your self some impressions for future use]. Pacific Point cardstock just happened to be in my stash...

I checked my inks and found I had Stampin Up pumpkin patch & pacific point and hadnt used either of them before - I chose a camelia versa colour cube to take place of Melon Mambo and stamped white cardstock with little flowers in each colour using Clear Stamps Floral Flurries. And now am ready to take off.

Card #1 came pretty quickly using the punched die cut a stamped image and white base. Decided to do one of those cards where the front panel is not as wide as the back panel and so the vertical sentiment is actually attached to the back panel and a card was done... and I didnt even touch the PP card stock... oh well might get to make another entry...

Materials Used as described in the text.
 
I will be entering the following challenges with this creation:
 
Addicted to Stamps and More - Addicted to Colour
 
Pixies Crafty Workshop - Snippets Playground
 
While I am blabbing on I just thought I'd share an incident that increased my snippets stash considerably... I store my cardstock pretty much cut to C6 size sorted into colours in an expanding file next to my workdesk/coffee table... well my very very sorry 17 year old daughter spilt a glass of coke all through it... there was enough to make at least 50 cards - mmm thats quite a bit of heartache I can tell you - but it means I now have quite a large supply of snippets which are bigger than the average size!! I'll get to use them all eventually...
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx


 
 


Wednesday 1 May 2013

Turtle Luck

Hello there... well if you read my last post re WOYWW you will know I had coloured another Turtle image using green ink instead of black and needed to finish it off on a card.  Well here is the result:

I think I like the green better - its a bit more "natural"
 
Materials used: Lucy's Stamp Turtle; Tombow markers on the turtle and Twinkling H20's on the background; Creative memories wavy cutting ruler, Scotch layering tape, clear emboss pdr and versacolour turquoise ink, cardstock and sticker from stash.
 
I am entering into the following challenges with this card:
 Simon Says Stamp - Happy Mail challenge
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx


WOYWW #204 - First post....

I am jumping in with both feet - WOYWW [What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday] is celebrating 4 years soon and I must say the ladies I have connected with so far are very creative and inspirational. The time I used to spend on FB is dwindling drastically and this blogging thing is taking over my life - entering challenges is very addictive and the number of cards I am churning out is expanding expidentially!!!!

I have a closed group on FB where I have published my creations for over a year for some friends  - but they are not Papercraft Addicts and so I dont get that neccessary feedback to keep me buzzing!! You all know what I am talking about...

Here goes...
 
This is actually the living/lounge room in my home - living on my own I am lucky enough to spread out - previously I was one of those OCD type people who had to put things away between every  project I now only need to make an effort when my daughter drops in or visitors pounce... I mean visit!!
Looking from my kitchen bench where I have stamping & embossing stuff set up down into my dining area where I have my laptop and dry embossing / die cutting set up - then over the top of the sofa into my TV area where I sit and do my actual creating at the coffee table... whew!
Left is my embellishments, ribbons, bling, papers, punches, markers, inks etc etc etc...        and on the right is my stamps storage... started as a single storage box almost 20 odd years ago - so I dont think I've done too badly as far as a stash is
concerned - I am of course refraining from showing you the garage - whats that show on telly - Hoarders - Buried Alive??  LOL... Enough wool for 20 jumpers, embroidery thread and tapestry supplies to cover quite a few canvases as well as a tonne of soil for when I finally get around to sorting out my courtyard... no you don't need to see all that!
 
And finally - What is on "My" Workdesk this Wednesday...
I was going to try and enter my very first Rudolph Day over at Stamping for Pleasure with the red & green cards [Edited: apologies - I had an incorrect link] - but I missed the deadline - they really aren't ready so I'll keep working on them til the next time... and I posted a turtle card recently so coloured another turtle embossed with green ink instead of black - mmm I think it looks better - and I have been browsing the catalogue for the upcoming papercraft convention in June, and I am also re-organising some paper & card stock that is getting out of hand... and the list just goes on and on.. I hope to become a regular visitor at WOYWW -
 
Thanks for stopping by... Mxx